Blinds, Antes and the Button: Who Pays and Who Acts First

Blinds are forced bets that two players post before the cards are dealt, so that there is always something in the pot to play for. The small blind is usually half of the big blind. An ante is a small extra forced bet that every player (or only one player) adds in later tournament levels. The dealer button marks the player who acts last after the flop and decides who posts the blinds.

The short version

• The two players to the left of the button post the small blind and the big blind. Nobody else pays before the deal (apart from antes).
• The button moves one seat to the left after each hand, so everyone pays the blinds in turn.
• Before the flop, the player to the left of the big blind acts first. After the flop, the first active player to the left of the button acts first and the button acts last.
• In heads-up play (two players) the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop, last afterwards.

Small blind and big blind

Blinds replace the "ante and bet" structure of old poker games. At a table with blinds of $1/$2, the small blind posts $1 and the big blind posts $2. The big blind is also the minimum bet size before the flop and sets the stake level of the game ("$1/$2 no-limit").

• The blinds are live: they count toward your bet. If nobody raises, the big blind may check or raise, because the bet is already matched.
• The small blind has to put in half a bet more to see the flop, and acts first after the flop. That is why the small blind is the weakest position at the table.
• The big blind closes the action before the flop, but has to act early after the flop.

The dealer button

The button is a disc that moves clockwise one seat per hand. The player on the button is the dealer for that hand (in a casino, a real dealer handles the cards and the disc only marks the position). The button acts last on every betting round after the flop, which is the best position in poker. See position for what that is worth.

Action order

At a six-player table, in order of seats clockwise from the button: button (BTN), small blind (SB), big blind (BB), then under the gun (UTG), hijack (HJ) and cutoff (CO).

• Before the flop: UTG acts first, then HJ, CO, BTN, SB and finally BB. The blinds act last because they have already put money in.
• After the flop, on the turn and on the river: the first player still in the hand to the left of the button acts first, usually the SB, and the button acts last.

Heads-up: with two players the button is also the small blind. That player acts first before the flop and last on every later round.

Antes

An ante is a forced bet taken from every player before each hand, usually appearing a few levels into a tournament. It makes the pot bigger from the start, so stealing the blinds becomes more attractive and tournaments move faster.

• Classic ante: every player pays a small ante each hand (for example 25 chips per player).
• Big blind ante: only the big blind pays one ante for the whole table, equal to the big blind. This is common online and in most modern live tournaments because it is faster to collect.

Cash games usually have no ante. Some use a straddle, an optional extra blind posted before the cards are dealt by the player under the gun.

How blinds change strategy

• In tournaments, blinds go up on a schedule. Your stack measured in big blinds (your "M" or stack depth) matters more than the chip count. At 100 big blinds you can play patiently; at 15 you must choose your spots.
• Blinds are a cost: each orbit costs you 1.5 big blinds (SB plus BB) plus antes. Waiting only for premium hands is not free.
• Defending the blinds is a skill of its own, because you get a discount on a call but play out of position. See starting hands.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting that the small blind is not a "free" hand. It is the worst seat after the flop.
• Folding the big blind when you can check for free.
• Treating the first betting round after the flop as if you act in the same order as before it.
• Ignoring the blind schedule in tournaments and running out of chips relative to the blinds.

What to read next

• Position: why the order of action matters.
• How to play poker: the full hand step by step.
• Poker rules cheat sheet: a one-page summary.
• MTT strategy basics: how blinds and antes shape tournament play.
• Poker chips and home game: chip values, blinds and how to run a home game.